Mr Rapisarda said while consumer demand had declined, supermarkets were not helping to promote the product.

“I’m giving them away at the moment and a lot of good fruit is getting wasted.

“It can’t get any worse than this.

“We’ve done a lot at the end of the day, making sure it is safe, but if the retailers are not stocking them and putting them in the right places, with the right price on them… it has been too slow on the retail side.”

Bowen-Gumlu growers association president Carl Walker said ramifications had been dire and the whole industry was suffering.

“We grow a good, safe product and it was an isolated incident that unfortunately had dire consequences,” Mr Walker said.

“One grower does close to 1000 acres just himself, there’s a hell of a lot grown up here.”